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China's National Defense in 2004
Updated: 2004-12-28 09:52
Chapter V The Military
Service System
China practices a military service system which combines
conscripts with volunteers and a militia with a reserve service. It is the
glorious duty of the Chinese citizens to serve in the armed forces and join
militia organizations according to law.
Administration System for Military Service Work
China practices an administration system of unified
leadership and graded responsibility for military service work. Under the
leadership of the State Council and the CMC, the Ministry of National Defense
assumes responsibility for the military service work throughout the country. The
military area commands are responsible for the military service work in their
respective areas in accordance with the directions of the Ministry of National
Defense. The provincial commands (garrison commands), sub-commands (garrison
commands) and the people's armed forces departments of counties, autonomous
counties, cities and municipal districts concurrently act as the military
service organs of the people's governments at corresponding levels and are
responsible for the military service work in their respective areas under the
leadership of the military organs at higher levels and the people's governments
at corresponding levels. The government organs, public organizations,
enterprises and institutions and the people's governments of townships, ethnic
townships and towns accomplish their military service work in accordance with
the provisions of the Military Service Law. Professional work concerning
military service is handled by the people's armed forces departments, or by the
designated departments where there are no people's armed forces departments.
Active Service
Active service is the principal form in which Chinese
citizens perform their military service obligations. The citizens in active
service in the PLA are servicemen in active service, consisting of officers in
active service, civil cadres and soldiers in active service.
Officers in active service are the servicemen who hold
posts at or above the platoon level or junior specialized technical level, and
are conferred corresponding military ranks. They are classified as operational,
political, logistics, armaments and specialized technical officers. The Law of
the PRC on Officers in Active Service stipulates that the main sources of
officers in active service are: graduates of schools or academies in the
military, who are originally selected to study there from among outstanding
soldiers and graduates of regular secondary schools; graduates of regular
institutions of higher learning; civil cadres in the military; and specialized
technicians and other persons recruited from outside the military. In war,
soldiers, enlisted reserve officers, and persons in non-military departments may
be directly appointed as active officers as needed.
The PLA institutes a post-based military rank system for
officers. Military ranks for officers in active service are divided into 10
grades in three categories: general, lieutenant general and major general;
senior colonel, colonel, lieutenant colonel and major; captain, first lieutenant
and second lieutenant. The posts at and below the level of the military area
command are: military area command, corps, division, regiment, battalion,
company and platoon. The highest military rank for specialized technical
officers is lieutenant general, and their professional levels are graded into
senior, intermediate and junior.
Soldiers in active service are composed of conscripts
based on compulsory military service (referred to as conscripts) and volunteers
based on volunteer military service (referred to as non-commissioned officers).
Non-commissioned officers are chosen from conscripts who have completed their
terms of active service, and may be recruited from citizens with professional
skills in non-military organizations. The term of service for conscripts in
active service is two years. A system of active service for different terms is
adopted for non-commissioned officers. The first two terms are three years each,
the third and fourth terms four years each, the fifth term five years, and the
sixth term nine years or longer. Non-commissioned officers are divided into two
categories: specialized-technical and non-specialized-technical. The term of
active service for the former ranges from the first to the sixth, and the latter
and women non-commissioned officers serve, in principle, only the first term.
The lowest military rank for soldiers in active service
is private, and the highest is non-commissioned officer of the sixth grade.
Conscripts in their first year of service are of the rank of private, and rise
to the rank of private first class in their second year. The military ranks for
non-commissioned officers are divided into six grades in three categories. The
first two grades are junior non-commissioned officers, the third and fourth
grades are intermediate non-commissioned officers, and the fifth and sixth
grades are senior non-commissioned officers.
Reserve Service
Reserve service is divided into reserve service for
officers and reserve service for soldiers. Citizens registered for reserve
service are reservists.
Reserve officers are chosen mainly from officers and
civil cadres who have been discharged from active service, soldiers who have
been discharged from active service, cadres of the people's armed forces
departments and the militia, graduates from non-military institutions of higher
learning, and other citizens who meet the qualifications of reserve officers.
Reserve officers who hold posts in reserve forces, or are pre-regimented to
active forces are reserve officers of Category One, and the other reserve
officers are in Category Two. Reserve officers are classified as operational,
political, logistics, armaments, and specialized technical officers and their
posts are classified as division, regiment, battalion, company and platoon
levels, and for specialized technical officers, as senior, intermediate and
junior levels. The military ranks for reserve officers are divided into eight
grades in three categories: reserve major general; reserve senior colonel,
colonel, lieutenant colonel and major; reserve captain, first lieutenant and
second lieutenant. Reserve soldiers range in age from 18 to 35. On the basis of
age and military qualities, they are classified into Category One and Category
Two.
Enlistment in Peacetime
The number of conscripts enlisted into active service in
China every year, and the requirements and time for their enlistment are
prescribed by order of the State Council and the CMC. The provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government make
arrangements for enlistment in their respective areas in accordance with the
enlistment order of the State Council and the CMC. Enlistment in peacetime
usually takes place once a year.
The Military Service Law of the PRC stipulates that male
citizens who reach the age of 18 by December 31 each year are eligible for
enlistment for active service. Those who are not enlisted that year remain
eligible for enlistment until the age of22. Female citizens may also be
enlisted, if necessary. Male citizens reaching the age of 18 before December 31
should register for military service before September 30 of the same year.
Citizens who meet the required conditions for active service are enlisted into
active service after gaining approval from the military service organs of their
own counties, autonomous counties, cities or municipal districts. If a citizen
qualified for enlistment is the only supporter of his or her family or is a
student in a full-time school, his or her enlistment may be postponed. Citizens
who are kept in custody for investigations, legal proceedings or trials, or who
are serving sentences or are under criminal detention or surveillance may not be
enlisted.
Discharge from Active Service and Resettlements
Active officers who have reached the maximum age limit
for peacetime active service should be discharged from active service. Those who
have not yet reached the maximum age limit or have not served the minimum term
limit for peacetime active service may be discharged from active service in
special circumstances after gaining approval. Soldiers who have completed their
term of active service should be discharged from active service.
The state makes proper arrangements for officers and
civil cadres who have been discharged from active service. The main modes of
arrangement are transference to civilian work, demobilization and retirement.
Transference to civilian work is the principal mode of arrangement for officers
and civil cadres discharged from active service. Administrative organs for
resettlement of officers and civil cadres who have been transferred to civilian
work or have retired, are set up at the national level and at the level of the
province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central
Government), and, if necessary, corresponding organs may be set up at the level
of the city (prefecture). The General Political Department is responsible for
the overall administration of the PLA resettlement work for officers and civil
cadres who have been transferred to civilian work or have retired.
Since 2001, the Central Committee of the CPC, the State
Council and the CMC have promulgated and implemented the Provisional Measures
for Resettlement of Officers and Civil Cadres Transferred to Civilian Work and
related regulations and policies, providing for execution of the resettlement
mode to civilian work, whereby the state planned assignment of jobs and posts is
combined with finding jobs by oneself. Officers at the level of division or
regiment or at battalion-level with 18 years of military service (including
civil cadres at the corresponding levels and specialized technical officers who
enjoy corresponding status) can either be assigned civilian jobs according to
the unified plan or choose to find jobs by themselves. Those at or below the
battalion level with less than 18 years of military service are assigned
civilian work under the unified plan. The Party committees and governments are
responsible for arranging jobs and posts for officers and civil cadres
transferred to civilian work. Those who choose to find jobs by themselves may
seek assistance from the government in their job-finding and are entitled to a
monthly-paid service-discharge pension for life long with exemption from income
tax. Officers and civil cadres transferred to civilian work may settle at their
native places or the places where they were enlisted, or settle at the places
where their spouses lived before moving to accompany the servicemen or where
they were married. When they meet the required conditions, they may also settle
at the places where their parents, their spouses' parents, their spouses or
their children are permanent residents, or at the places where their troops are
stationed.
When conscripts have been discharged from active
service, the people's government of the county where they were enlisted makes
appropriate arrangements for them, depending on whether they are from the
countryside or city and whether they have received any awards for meritorious
service. Non-commissioned officers are resettled and arranged as transference to
civilian work, demobilization, or retirement from active service according to
their terms of service.
Table 3: Maximum Age Limits for Active Officers Holding
Posts in Peacetime
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